SYDNEY, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The yen plumbed a 2-1/2 year low
against the dollar on Monday, grabbing the Asian spotlight amid
subdued trading for the region's stock markets, with Japan's
central bank in focus as it faced unrelenting political pressure
to deliver bold stimulus.

The euro also notched up handsome gains against the dollar
and the yen, helped by waning expectations of any further
monetary easing from the European Central Bank.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday the Bank of Japan
(BOJ) must set a 2 percent inflation target and make it a
medium-term, not long-term, goal to show markets it was
determined to pursue bold monetary easing to end nearly two
decades of deflation.

His comments emboldened yen bears, who took a fresh swipe at
the currency. That pushed the U.S. dollar to a high of 89.67 yen
, a level not seen since mid-2010, while the euro scaled a
20-month peak above 120.00 yen.

"The confirmation that there's going to be a push for a new
(BOJ) governor, that new governor is going to have a mandate of
2 percent inflation, that plus the fiscal stimulus is a major
negative for the yen," said Callum Henderson, global head of FX
research for Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.

Having staged a 2-percent rally at the start of the year on
growing optimism about the health of the global economy, stock
markets appeared to be pausing for confirmation of a brighter
global growth outlook.

U.S. stock futures were a shade firmer, hinting at a
steady start for Wall Street.

Analysts at HSBC believe global developments this week will
support demand for riskier assets, with U.S. and Chinese data
likely to show further momentum in the world's two biggest
economies.

"In addition, the Fed speaker calendar is dominated by doves
in the early part of the week. These should provide reassurance
that the Fed is in no rush to turn off the liquidity tap despite
these early signs of encouragement on activity," they said in a
client note.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to speak at the
University of Michigan on Monday and investors are eagerly
waiting for clues on how long the Fed's latest bond purchase
programme will last.

Any signs that the Fed is in no hurry to end its
quantitative easing programme could see the U.S. dollar soften
further against higher-yielding currencies such as the
Australian dollar and those of faster-growing emerging
economies.

The Aussie dollar rose 0.2 percent to $1.0556,
within easy reach of a four-month high of $1.0599 set last week.
China's yuan flirted with record highs against the greenback,
changing hands at 6.2149 per dollar.

The euro was up 0.4 percent at a fresh nine-month high of
$1.3404, continuing to outperform the greenback after
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last week gave no
indication the bank would ease monetary policy any further.

Commodity prices found some traction after last week's
decline. Brent crude gained 39 cents to $111.03 a barrel
as fears of supply disruption in the Middle East resurfaced,
while U.S. crude rose 62 cents to $94.18 a barrel.

Copper edged up 0.7 percent to $8,101 a tonne and
gold was a shade firmer at $1,666 an ounce.